Dr Ms Kat finished reading The Tusks of Extinction by Ray Nayler
When you bring back a long-extinct species, there’s more to success than the DNA.
…
Oof.
Reviews and Comments
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Dr Ms Kat finished reading The Practice, the Horizon, and the Chain by Sofia Samatar
The boy was raised as one of the Chained, condemned to toil in the bowels …
Engaging, intruiging horrifying. It'd be hopeful if its worldbuilding wasn't so bleak.
Engaging, intruiging horrifying. It'd be hopeful if its worldbuilding wasn't so bleak.
Dr Ms Kat finished reading Navigational Entanglements by Aliette de Bodard
I struggled to connect with this story. Disappointing, because I normally really like the author's writing.
I struggled to connect with this story. Disappointing, because I normally really like the author's writing.
Dr Ms Kat finished reading Butcher of the Forest by Premee Mohamed
A world-weary woman races against the clock to save two children from an enchanting but …
This book gave me anxiety the whole time I was reading it. The opposite of a cosy read.
Dr Ms Kat finished reading The Brides of High Hill by Nghi Vo (The Singing Hills Cycle, #5)
The Cleric Chih accompanies a beautiful young bride to her wedding to an aging lord …
A book where you read the acknowledgements at the end and go "Ohhhhh".
A book where you read the acknowledgements at the end and go "Ohhhhh".
Dr Ms Kat finished reading Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky
To fix the world they must first break it, further. Humanity is a dying breed, …
Content warning Spoilers
Ok this one was better than Alien Clay. But Tchaikovsky does seem to have a third-act-goes-off-the-rails problem. Surely it can't be that hard to set up the big payoffs and conclusions a bit earlier, rather than suddenly coming in with King Robot and Robot God in the last 3rd. Literally a deus ex machina.
Dr Ms Kat started reading Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky
To fix the world they must first break it, further. Humanity is a dying breed, …
Dear lord, I hope this is better than the other Adrian Tchaikovsky book I read.
Dr Ms Kat finished reading The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett (Shadow of the Leviathan, #1)
In Daretana’s greatest mansion, a high imperial officer lies dead—killed, to all appearances, when a …
This was ok. It's essentially a murder mystery, set in a fantasy (not high fantasy) world. I was faintly irritated by the character who solves the mystery, suddenly describing sequences of events in an unearned way, but maybe that's just a common trope of the murder mystery genre.
This was ok. It's essentially a murder mystery, set in a fantasy (not high fantasy) world. I was faintly irritated by the character who solves the mystery, suddenly describing sequences of events in an unearned way, but maybe that's just a common trope of the murder mystery genre.
Dr Ms Kat started reading The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett (Shadow of the Leviathan, #1)
In Daretana’s greatest mansion, a high imperial officer lies dead—killed, to all appearances, when a …
I'm definitely trying to avoid that second Adrian Tchaikovsky book now
I'm definitely trying to avoid that second Adrian Tchaikovsky book now
Dr Ms Kat finished reading A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher
Cordelia knows her mother is . . . unusual. Their house doesn’t have any doors …
Ah, this was a lovely palate cleanser after the last awful book.
Dr Ms Kat reviewed Alien Clay by Adrian Tchaikovsky (duplicate)
Professor Arton Daghdev has always wanted to study alien life in person. But when his …
I hated this book the more of it I read
Content warning Spoilers but I don't recommend you read it anyway
This book could have had some good ideas and turned them into something interesting to read. Instead it mashed together a bunch of concepts, not fully fleshed out, and produced some drivel. It's full of tortured metaphors (even in the title Alien "Clay", except there's nothing special about the soil or earth of this planet - it's the ecology and the lifeforms which are talked about). The first third of the book is brutality (it's a convict prison planet), the second third is horror (OMG the weird way that life happens on this planet - genuinely a bit squickful), and then the last third is a hurried, unearned conclusion where humans start to coexist with the life on the planet. It's written in an engaging manner so I can imagine people would be drawn in by it, but the more I read, the more I grew to hate it. I don't know how this got nominated for a Hugo and I'm annoyed that this author has two nominations and I have to read another book by him. Don't read this book.
Dr Ms Kat started reading Alien Clay by Adrian Tchaikovsky (duplicate)
Professor Arton Daghdev has always wanted to study alien life in person. But when his …
Next up.
Dr Ms Kat finished reading The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley
In the near future, a civil servant is offered the salary of her dreams and …
I super enjoyed this one. Notionally a time travel story, but that's not really what it's about. Unless one of the other Hugo novel nominations is a surprise banger, this will probably get my top vote.
I super enjoyed this one. Notionally a time travel story, but that's not really what it's about. Unless one of the other Hugo novel nominations is a surprise banger, this will probably get my top vote.
Dr Ms Kat finished reading Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell
Discover this creepy, charming monster-slaying fantasy romance—from the perspective of the monster—by Nebula Award-winning debut …
This was good and I enjoyed it, but I'm not sure it needed to be novel-length. It probably could have conveyed the same story in a shorter-length medium.
This was good and I enjoyed it, but I'm not sure it needed to be novel-length. It probably could have conveyed the same story in a shorter-length medium.
Dr Ms Kat started reading Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell
Discover this creepy, charming monster-slaying fantasy romance—from the perspective of the monster—by Nebula Award-winning debut …
Ok, Hugos reading for two months now. Let's goooo!
Ok, Hugos reading for two months now. Let's goooo!